Ann Coffey

Interview with Radio 5 Live, Children Missing from Care

9th May 2018

Below is my interview with Radio 5 Live on May 8th 2018. I was asked to speak following my parliamentary debate on children missing from care.

I spoke in Parliament about the soaring numbers of vulnerable children being forced to live in children’s homes many miles away and the rise in missing incidents.

Since 2012, the number of children in Children’s Homes who are placed out of their local area has soared by 64%. This means that 61% of children in Children’s Homes are now sent to live outside their Borough.

The All Party Group for runaway and missing children and adults heard that these vulnerable children are more likely to go missing. By going missing they are at greater risk of sexual exploitation and grooming by criminal gangs to supply firearms and drugs.

Since 2015, the number of missing incidents involving these children has skyrocketed by 110%.

Last month in Stockport, 65% of children who went missing from Stockport Care Homes were placed by other authorities.